Silver Dragon

  Silver Dragon

  By Jason Halstead

  ©2013

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For additional information contact:

  www.novelconceptpublishing.com

  7974 Brookwood ST NE

  Warren, MI 44484

  Cover art © 2012 Willsin Rowe

  Proofread by Faith Williams

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Jason Halstead’s website: http://www.booksbyjason.com

  Look for these other Blades of Leander books:

  Child of Fate (book 1)

  Victim of Fate (book 2)

  Silver Dragon (book 3)

  or pick up all 3 at once in the Blades of Leander boxed set

  And the follow-up series Order of the Dragon

  Isle of the Ape (book 1)

  Sands of Betrayal (coming soon)

  Chasing the Dragon (coming soon)

  Dragonlady (coming soon)

  Chapter 1

  "Why are you staring at that tavern?" Caitlyn asked her brother.

  Alto ignored his sister and continued to look at the Foaming Mug. He heard her sigh through her nose, a mannerism she’d picked up from their mother. The familiarity made him wince. Their mother was gone. Killed by men sent to punish Alto. Almost his entire family had been killed. No, not killed, butchered. Only Caitlyn remained but the way she cried out in her sleep at night made him wonder if she’d have preferred death.

  "That’s where Aleena works," he finally mumbled, naming the serving maid who had staked her claim on him.

  "I thought you said she was nobody?" Caitlyn accused.

  Alto nodded. "Her father owns the tavern. She's just a serving girl, but she deserves to know the truth."

  Caitlyn's voice rose as she spoke, "So you brought us all the way to Portland just so you could tell this serving girl that you’re not dead? There are people hunting for you! For both of us, thanks to you. We should be finding some place safe. You said Holgasford would be safe, but you brought us here instead."

  Alto turned and held up his finger between them, silencing her. "I know what I’ve done," he hissed. "I did what I thought was best." Alto trailed off, not sure how to finish what he was trying to say. For that matter, he wasn't sure he knew what he wanted to say. He hadn't planned to come to Portland first; he was supposed to take Caitlyn to Holgasford, just like she'd said.

  It wasn't that he was pining away for Aleena either. When he thought of girls, he thought of Patrina. But Patrina was complicated. She wasn't just a lady, she was a Lady. A princess of her people. And Alto? He was a farmer's son. Alto stiffened. His father was dead; that meant the farm was his. He was a farmer now. A farmer who preferred the tools of war to the tools of a field.

  "And we all paid for it," Caitlyn finished, bringing him back to his unfinished thought.

  Alto nodded. He tossed his thoughts of tilling the earth aside. He was born a farmer but he'd found a better path. Something he was better at. "Yes, we did. But I’m going to fix it."

  "You can’t fix it! Dead is dead, Alto!"

  Alto sighed. "I know that, I mean I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else."

  "We can just leave! Run away and start over somewhere else," she offered. "It’s not safe here for us. We go somewhere else and we can start over. You can be a soldier there or a farmer or whatever! I’ve got no one special. I’ll cook and clean for you until we get on our feet. Maybe we’ll find someone, maybe not. Maybe—"

  "Enough," he said loud enough to stop her. He turned back to the tavern and added, "I won't run. Father wouldn't approve of us doing that."

  "Yes he would, if it meant we'd be safe! It's what he did."

  Alto spun back on her. "What?"

  "He did it! He told us, well, some of us. Mother and me and Darren. Seeing you doing all those things loosened him up. He was proud of you, he was," she said. "He said he'd done all he could think of and was pretty good with a blade in his younger days, too, before he met Mother."

  "So what happened?" Alto pressed.

  "She was from somewhere down southeast of us, they wouldn't say where. He'd run across her while he was riding with some friends doing whatever jobs they could find. He said his friends he rode with had a misunderstanding at a tavern that turned into a fight and before anybody knew it, somebody drew steel. Father tried to help his friend out but he ended up killing a man. Mother and Father had already been sweet for each other by then so as soon as he got away, he rode to her place and convinced her to ride off with him. They came up here and he put his past behind him, promising he'd never be like that again."

  "Be like what? Ready to stand up for his friends?"

  She shook her head. "Stupid, he said. He also said he hasn't touched an ale since and he's a better man for it. He didn't even know what the argument was anymore, probably a disagreement over cards or something stupid."

  Alto stared at her, focusing on the vision of his sister while the world felt like it spun around them. "Just like that? He gave up his friends and what made him happy because of an accident?"

  "He killed a man!"

  "Some men deserve killing," Alto reminded her. "Or have you already forgotten Beck and his friends?"

  Her cheeks paled and she shook her head. "No," she whispered. "But Father said he was happy. Family and love were all that he needed."

  "But yet he was so proud of me for doing what I had done?"

  She nodded. Some color returned to her cheeks and she risked a smile.

  "Then he wasn't happy," Alto decreed. "Oh sure, maybe he was, but he'd given up something for it."

  "What are you saying? Why can't a man be happy with family and an honest day's work?"

  Alto opened and closed his mouth. Why couldn't a man be happy with that? He'd been happy enough, before he joined the Blades of Leander. He'd been young, only sixteen, but he didn't have any complaints.

  "You were happy before you left, weren't you?" Caitlyn was thinking the same as he was.

  Alto frowned. "I didn't know there could be more to life," he said to give himself some time. "I was happiest when I was out hunting with Father. He knew so much about it. How to track and how to shoot a bow at an animal. Didn't matter what kind of animal, he knew how to fell them all with a single arrow."

  "Better an animal than another man," Caitlyn said.

  Alto shook his head. "Animals aren't capable of hurting people the way men do."

  "So now you're fit to judge a man?"

  Alto scowled at her. "We all judge, just like you're judging me now!"

  "I am not!"

  "Yes you are."

  "No, I'm not!" she insisted. "You're my brother. I'll always accept you."

  "Even accepting me is judging me," Alto said. "Just because I'm your brother doesn't mean anything. It's an excuse you're using because you know I'm right."

  Caitlyn's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to retaliate when she saw something behind him that drew her attention.

  "Alto!"

&nbs
p; Alto recognized the voice before he recognized his name. It was Aleena. "Damn," he mumbled before he started to turn. Caitlyn's hand cracked across his cheek, stunning him.

  "Mind your mouth! Our parents raised you better than that!" she reprimanded him.

  "By the saints! You're alive! Alto, you're alive!"

  Alto felt himself torn between the two women. He turned to face Aleena and was engulfed in a hug that threatened to crush him. It wasn't until Caitlyn cleared her throat loudly that Aleena stopped squeezing and kissing him and let him separate himself from her.

  "What happened?" Aleena gushed. "That woman with the dwarf told me you'd been killed! She was that princess from the Kelgryn lands, right? She had a unicorn that she rode! I'm not imagining this, am I?"

  Alto held up his hand to slow her down. "Yes, that was Lady Patrina, of the Kelgryn. The dwarf was Mordrim and the unicorn's name is Winter. And no, I'm real. I survived. I got out of the caves in time."

  "Winter? The unicorn's name was Winter?" She shook her head and then narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. "You gave that lady Winter, she said? How did that happen?"

  Caitlyn cleared her throat again behind them, prompting Alto to deflect the jealous question and introduce her. "Aleena, this is my sister, Caitlyn."

  "Your sister?" Aleena echoed. "Oh. Um, hi. I'm Aleena."

  Caitlyn offered her a smile. "I've heard about you."

  Aleena's eyes widened as she turned them on Alto. "Is that right?"

  Alto nodded. "Yes, you're why I'm here."

  Aleena's lips spread upwards in a grin.

  "I wanted you to know that I escaped the mines," Alto began but Aleena stopped him.

  "Was the rest true, did you stop the army in the north?"

  He shook his head. "We slowed them, that's all. Sure, I brought the mountain down on them but that was just one group of them."

  "So what's that mean?"

  "Means I'm leaving again," Alto said. "And I don't know if I'll be coming back. I'm taking Caitlyn someplace safe."

  Aleena's mouth fell open. "You're taking her? But what about me?"

  "You'll be safe enough here with your family."

  "What about the rest of your family? Why can't she be safe with them?" Aleena snipped.

  Alto saw his sister bite her lip and looked away. "They're already gone," he said.

  "Oh, so you're following them but I'm not good enough to—"

  "They're dead!" Alto snapped. He took a breath to stop himself and looked at anything he could that wasn't Aleena or his sister.

  "Oh saints above," Aleena whispered. "I'm so sorry!"

  Alto shook his head. "Feel sorry for them or for Caitlyn, not for me."

  "Alto, they're your family! Of course I feel sorry for y—"

  "Anyhow, I'm leaving and I wanted to make sure you knew. Can't say that I expect I'll come back and if I do, I don't know when. No sense in you waiting around for me. That's what I wanted to say. I felt I owed you that much," he interrupted.

  Aleena shook her head. "No. You can't! I won't let you! I'm not just something to cast aside."

  "My life is no life for you," Alto said. "I'm bound for dark places; it's not the place for a woman."

  "What about Lady Patrina? She said you saved her and she fought beside you." Aleena lifted her head to stare up into his face, challenging him. He saw tears behind the jealous anger.

  "Lady Patrina won't be coming with me either," Alto said. "Where I go, I go alone."

  "No, I can go with you! I promise I won't slow you down! I can fight. I'm good with a serving platter or an empty cup; imagine what I could do with a sword."

  "Aleena, stop," Alto said. "I'm the only one who can go where I'm headed and even if I weren't, you'd just end up hurt or killed. I can't have that. Not another person dead because of me."

  "You can't be serious!" Aleena turned to stare at Caitlyn.

  Alto's sister nodded. "He is. It's for your own good; you don't want to meet these people."

  "I'm no stranger to being harassed by men. I can handle myself!"

  Alto grimaced, expecting his sister to display the temper she'd let loose at his or his brothers’ expense many times in the past. Instead, Caitlyn shook her head. "They tied my parents to posts and then made them watch while they…"

  "Caitlyn, stop," Alto said when her voice cracked.

  Caitlyn shook her head. "No, she has to know!"

  "Why?" he demanded. "Why does she have to know? Why does anyone need to know? We know, isn't that enough?"

  "Know what?" Aleena persisted.

  "They killed them, all of them," Caitlyn whispered. She swallowed before continuing. "Our brothers and sisters. All of them. They killed them."

  Alto threw his hands up in the air and turned away.

  "Oh saints," Aleena said, her hand going to her mouth. "At least they didn't find you!"

  She shook her head. "They found me," she breathed.

  Aleena looked confused. "Why didn't—"

  "They wanted my parents to see me getting hurt."

  "Hurt?"

  "That's enough," Alto turned back and insisted. He wasn't sure if he said it to help Caitlyn or himself. He didn't want to relive what she'd gone through any more than he imagined she did.

  "No, it's not. They used me and beat me. They hurt me."

  Aleena's eyes widened as she realized what it was that Caitlyn was telling her.

  "Then they killed my parents and left me tied up in case any of them were in the mood again until Alto got back."

  Aleena's eyes shifted to the young warrior. He shook his head. "Come, Caitlyn, it's time to go."

  "No!" Aleena grabbed his arm. "Tell me. What happened?"

  Alto stared down at her but couldn't make his mouth work.

  "He killed them," Caitlyn said. "He killed them all. He punished them for what they done and he burned their bodies."

  "How many?" Aleena breathed.

  "Five. A knight and his four warriors."

  Aleena stared into Alto's eyes. "You killed them?"

  Alto broke his gaze away from her. "Forget you ever knew me. You'll sleep better and live longer for it." He gathered up Caitlyn with his arm around her shoulders and pulled her with him towards the bridge and away from Aleena.

  "It wasn't your fault," Aleena said. "You avenged them!"

  Alto stopped moving and felt Caitlyn trembling beside him. "They came looking for me. I wasn't there, so they punished me and they waited for me."

  Aleena's silence was the answer Alto had hoped for.

  "If anybody asks about me, pretend you never knew me," Alto said. "Live a long and happy life. Good bye, Aleena."

  Alto pulled his sobbing sister along with him, ignoring the foolish vows of youth behind him. Aleena was his age but she hadn't seen what he'd seen. She hadn't done what he'd done. She was just one more child he would do anything to keep from getting hurt. Even if it killed him to do it.

  "We're done here," Alto told his sister. "I'll get us some horses to ride to Holgasford where you can be safe."

  "I'll never feel safe again," she whispered.

  Alto winced. "I won't let anything happen to you."

  Caitlyn nodded and buried her face into his shoulder, slowing their walk. "I'm glad you killed them," she whispered. "I hope you made them suffer."

  They walked on in silence through the afternoon crowd.

  Chapter 2

  "I'll show you, Alto," Aleena called out after he led his sister away. "I'll prove myself to you!" Alto didn't turn around or look back. She saw Caitlyn lean into him a moment later, convincing her that her words had been lost. It didn't matter; that didn't make them any less important to her.

  Alto wasn't a childish crush. He wasn't just some handsome man in her father's tavern she'd taken a shining to. Alto was something else entirely. She knew he'd been interested when they met, when he was just a farm boy lost in the big city. He'd shown her he still was, but he'd been so hard for her to be sure of. He'd resisted h
er time and again, even when she'd all but thrown herself at him. She'd teased him by pretending she liked his friends; they'd even played along at first. But Alto had been so stinking noble it had made her scream! He smiled and encouraged them, of all things! But she saw how he looked at her; she knew he wanted her for himself, too.

  Aleena watched the man she'd decided she was going to marry walk away with his sister. She wanted to go after him and hold him to her and comfort him. Such a terrible thing, to lose so many people! But he still had her, didn't he realize that? She could help him, like she'd done before. Nurse him back to health like she'd tried to do after the fire.

  Aleena wiped the tears off her cheeks and stiffened her back. No, of course not, he didn't realize it because he had his sister. He had to protect her. Just like Alto had rushed into that burning building to save people he didn't even know. That was just the way he was. He was a hero. Her hero too, but he didn't see it that way. Not yet. She'd show him what he meant to her. She'd show him that he could let himself need her, too. She could do things for him, things no other woman would do. Or at least things no other woman had a right to do.

  But in order to show him, she had to have him around her. Right now he didn't want that. He wanted to be alone. Stupid boys, always thinking they could figure things out on their own! Her mother had showed her early on that people needed to talk; that's why so many men came to their tavern. They knew they needed to talk, too, but they were men. They couldn't do it unless they got a few drinks in them. Then they forgot how they were supposed to be tough and they could talk a little bit. That's also how Aleena had saved up so much money from tips. She'd learned to have a sympathetic ear.

  It wasn't enough to buy her own place but with Alto at her side, they could have done anything! She frowned. How would she get him to let her stand at his side long enough so he could see what he meant to her?

  The Lady Patrina, she was a warrior and he valued her as a companion. Aleena's eyes narrowed at the thought of the beautiful blond woman. And she was a princess of her people. How could Aleena compete with that?